Chapter 1: Three Lives Entangeld

CHAPTER 1: Three Lives- Entangled

"Summer romance is not always warm and cozy. Sometimes the wind blows and it gives you a cool breeze"

- Alyssa-

The Sun has risen and she opened her eyes slowly, when the ticking of the clock came to her senses. It was 6 in the morning, and she set her alarm earlier to have an ample time in getting herself ready for the much awaited day of the week.

And to completely wake herself up, she stretched her arms and legs a bit when her phone rang.

She moved an inch to get her phone on the bedside table, and checked the caller's name on the screen before accepting the call.

Her lips stretched when it was Carmen.

"Hi!" she said warmly, but a hysteric voice startled her upon answering

"Aly! Are you still sleeping? Oh my...don't tell me you are still on bed!" she exclaimed

"Hey! It's still early sis, what's the rush?" she uttered under her breath while rubbing her eyes to clear her blurry visions.

Carmen deeply inhaled before she reminded her friend about the thing she has to accomplish today.

"You haven't forgotten the submission of the requirements for the art exhibit, don't you?" she asked with a curious voice.

Aly plastered a smile before she utter "Nope! I won't miss it for the world- thanks for being so concerned about my joining. I appreciate your support” then she giggled before ending the call so she could start moving.

And in less than 2 hours, Alyssa was already at the gallery.

She was standing in the reception area waiting for her turn in the line, when someone yelled and called her name from nowhere.

She looked around and recognized a familiar face who was walking towards her direction, wearing a big smile on her face while waving her hand.

And as she came close to her, she almost jumped for joy to see her college friend again.

"Mandy!" she was delighted and she gave her friend a hug with a tap at her back, and returned the same warm gesture to her.

"It's nice to see you here Aly! You are joining the art exhibit, right?" Mandy assumed, since she found Alyssa in the line for the application form.

She excitedly nodded her head as her eyes twinkled.

"Great! Wait here!" then Mandy walked inside the reception area and talked to the personnel in charged. After a while, she went out with the application form and the checklist of the requirements.

"Here! Fill it out and I'll personally hand it over to my boss"

Her eyes sparked even more, knowing that her friend will help her.

"I didn't know you are working here, I'm so lucky to meet you, of all places" she chuckled sweetly, covering her mouth with her hand.

"It's already been two months since I started. I joined the team because of the high pay and the benefits they offer once you become a regular employee, I work under the marketing department by the way."

She was leading her to the lounge area so Aly could sit, while writing on the form.

"How about you, what's keeping you busy these days?" she asked as they reached the lounge and sat on the couch.

"Well... I'm quite busy with my clothing business." She replied and bent over to write on the center table.

"You own a shop!? Mandy's voice came out a bit high as she got surprised with the great news.

Alyssa lifted her head a little and looked at her friend to agree "Yup!"

"Awesome!" Mandy exclaimed. “Tell me more about it”

So Alyssa stopped from writing and took a moment to brag about her business.

"Our clothes are extra ordinary. We make ladies apparel in plain fabrics and hand painted it with my own designs. We also make designs through embroidery and patch works, through that process it makes our clothes stand out and unique among the other fashion brands" Alyssa explained with confidence.

Back then, when she was in college taking up fashion designing, she was the top student in her department. She won multiple awards in designs because of her excellent creativity.

"So, what's your entry for the upcoming modern art exhibit?" Mandy asked with a nosy tone when Aly handed her the finished application form.

'It's for me to know and for you to find out". Both of the girls laughed out loud as they looked at each other.

"Got to go now, my shop will be opened at 10 am, its pay day sale today!"

Alyssa tapped her shoulder softly, as she stood up. "I'm really happy to bumped into you Mandy"

"Me too, don't worry I'll handle this for you!" Lifting the form in her hand -assuring her friend.

Then they waved goodbye to each other.

Alyssa left immediately when she received a call from Carmen, a VIP client was waiting for her in the shop so she went rushing to accommodate her bulk order.

Time passed by and she didn't realize that it was almost afternoon. She felt so tired and hungry, since she only had a cup of coffee and a piece of bread in the morning.

The door swung open and she quickly ran to the door to welcome a customer as soon as she heard the door sound and to her surprise, it was someone whom she wasn't expecting to come.

"What brings you here Marcus? You know you shouldn't be here!" Alyssa asked the man in black shirt and tattered jeans.

His eyes were staring at her when he came inside the Atelier, then he removed his brown winter coat and hung it on the rack without saying anything.

With a rough voice she said "Didn't I tell you not to bother me when I am working?"

"Is that the way how you suppose to greet your fiancé when he exerted some effort to bring his girlfriend, her lunch?"

Marcus replied as he handed over the food he bought along the way. With her arms folded across her chest, she tilted her head and turned her gaze at the table not so far from her.

"You can leave it there!" and Marcus did, ignoring her girlfriend's childish behavior.

“You should eat up while it’s still hot” he suggested but Alyssa wasn’t interested, though she could already hear her stomach growling because of hunger. She ignored it anyway and walked toward the mannequin to change the dress display, when his fiancé tried to convince her once again.

Marcus knew what exactly what she was feeling at the moment, so he insisted. “Hey! Why don’t you take a seat first Aly and eat the food I brought for you.”

“Not hungry! Eat them so it won’t go to waste” She blurted out and her quick response immediately changed Marcus’ mood.

“What is wrong with you Alyssa!? Why are you giving me that kind of attitude, huh?” he inquire with a disgusted tone, but Alyssa was not bothered until Marcus said something that made her fire back.

“I am your man and we are about to get married! So you should at least show me some basic respect, Alyssa.” Marcus reminded her and his words shocked her.

Aly’s eyes widened while her mouth hung open out of disbelief, but when she came back to her senses after a while…She looked at him straight in the eye with bitterness in every lines.

"You know... you don't have to be a jerk for reminding me all the time that you are my fiancé, I am fully aware that I will be soon marrying you whether I like it or not." She paused as her jaw tightened out of irritation.

So she inhaled before continuing- "So could you please stop? Stop suffocating me!?” Her eyes turned red when tears started to fill her orbs, so she looked away to hide her shameless tears but it wasn’t left unnoticed so Marcus didn't bother to talk back to avoid arguing with her. Instead, he kept his silence just for the sake of peace.

Alyssa moved back towards her working table and grabbed the desk calendar to mark some appointments when she came across the date on January next year.

It was 2 months away from today, she realized. Her marriage was too close and the closer it gets the harder for her to breathe.

Her hands started to shake while Marcus was just watching her from a distance.

She lifted her head and with a low tone her voice was heard in a painful way that his heart could hardly bear.

"This is my destiny...and there's nothing I can do to change that, right?" her eyes were stuck on the wall cladding of her shop.

"Can you at least spare me some time to be alone while I'm still not married to you?" she diverted her gaze, back to him at once.

"I need to breath. Please don't make me hate you more by seeing you every single day, to remind me how cruel the world is to me." She grasped for air as she felt her heart being squeezed out of her chest while making a request.

Marcus simply nodded.

***

-Zack-

"Wow! This is amazing! Zack exclaimed while looking at the wall's 3D mural.

The person who made this is awesome!" He said out of astonishment.

His eyes were stuck for a moment on the painting of a child with a magnifying glass in his hand while looking on the ground. It looks funny to him, yet...He found the painting interesting at the same time.

"That child looks like a giant and if I stand under the lens, it will look like I am being magnified by him as a tiny person" he laughed out loud.

"Amazing! Such a brilliant idea" he uttered, talking to himself.

He was walking downtown when this painting caught his attention and on his way to the coffee shop, out of amusement...His mind was still on the mural.

His phone rang...

It was Jake, his team manager from the management department.

"Hello" he answered with a casual voice, keeping his one hand inside his pocket.

"Sorry to call you this early Mr. Murphy, I received an urgent call from our client in Hawaii for the upcoming resort opening. They are very pleased on how we have designed the resort's architecture, but requesting if we could at least extend our courtesy to them by decorating the reception area with floral."

"Flowers?" Zack questioned him.

"Yes! And they don't mean the fresh ones, sir. They want something artistic. They want the hallway to be like a small gallery where the guest can roam around while waiting for their check in and check out time." Jake explained thoroughly.

"Coordinate with the design team as soon as possible, we don't have much time! The resorts opening will be in 4 weeks, tell them to hand me the proposal letter for approval on Monday morning. "

Zack dropped the call then suddenly thought about the 3D mural he saw earlier.

It was just two blocks away from the area so he decided to go back and check if he could find any contact details of the artist.

Luckily, there is an artist's signature at the bottom of the painting, however it was not the artist's real name that has been written there, rather...she used her pen name.

"I wonder why the artist didn't use her name for signature." his brows furrowed.

"How can she get an offer if someone like me wants to work with her? She should have at least use her real name, didn't she thought about that?" he hissed out of disappointment.

With folded arms across his chest, he shook his head out of disbelieve. "Where can I reach this person?"

"Fallen Angel! Zack murmured.

"Interesting!" he uttered in silence and took out his phone in his pocket to dial his secretary's number.

"Yes boss? Anything you need?" she asked, the moment she received the call.

"Cindy, I need you to find someone for me...this person is an artist"

He was mesmerized while looking at the small drawing of an angel beside the initial, her left eye was hidden behind her long hair. "She is definitely a girl! A sad one?" His mind was curious.

"I'll send you the initial name, you might find something on the web that is related to this person." He hung up. And again his gaze was on the initial.

"Why does my heart beats so fast as i read the name?" He asked himself. He was about to leave when he accidentally bumped into someone's shoulder as he turned himself.

The woman walked past him, yet she managed to apologize to him without even looking ”I'm sorry, I was in a hurry and I didn't notice you"

Her soft and apologetic voice lingered around him and he was like captivated, and her scent was luscious, he can almost taste it in his mouth.

He wanted to see her face, but as he turned his back...She disappeared even before he can lay his eyes on her.

The wind blows...and her scent was still all over him.

***

-Marcus-

His body was shaking as he entered his office, and as soon as he plastered his back on his working chair, his mind took him back to one of the most painful moment he had with Alyssa.

"This is my destiny, and there's nothing I can do to change that. Can you at least spare me some time to be alone while I am still not married to you?"

"I need to breathe! Don't make me hate you more by seeing you every single day and reminding me how cruel the world is to me."

Every single word she uttered right in front of him remained inside his heart just like a tattoo, and it's piercing through his soul as it lingered inside his head.

"How did you end up hating me Alyssa?" His fingers were curling.

"I know that our engagement have brought you into shock. I didn't mean to pressure you, believe me."

He recalled telling her those words but no matter how he tried to explain, her ears have gone deaf for him.

"This is not how I wanted you to accept me as your future husband, but you left me with no choice." that was the last thing he wanted to say to her, and it teared him apart to see her cry.

"You denied my love for you. You refused to love me back" he clenched his fist, trying to endure the tormenting pain. Because her tears were like sharp blades in his heart. Hurting him deeply each time she cry.

Out of his control, his mind took him back to the day he made his love confession to Aly.

It was a bright day in summer when they were walking at the park, and Marcus thought that it was the perfect moment for his untold feelings to be heard.

He took a deep breath as he mustered up his courage. And when he felt his mind and heart were finally ready. He confided.

"I love you Alyssa" he murmured at her side and Alyssa was astonished, hearing those words from him made her heart felt warm and safe.

"I love you too Marcus. You are my forever best friend “she said sweetly and her eyes were shinning.

Those 3 words were supposed to give him happiness, but the words she uttered after those 3 precious words, suddenly broke his heart. But he was not moved, he wanted her to be more than his best friend.

So he pursued. Marcus stopped walking and held both Aly's hand.

Alyssa tilted her head from left to right, showing curiosity in her eyes as she wondered what's going on with Marcus.

He looked at her straight in the eyes and without hesitation- his feelings for her popped out.

"I Love you Aly...m-more than my best friend!" he exclaimed right unto her face with confidence and high hopes that his love will be accepted.

Alyssa was in deep shocked.

For a while, the world seemed to stop. Every single thing paused in her fingertip.

"Aly! Aly! Alyssa!"

Marcus was calling out her name repeatedly. And when Alyssa finally came back to her senses... She stared at Marcus with objection in her eyes.

"I'm sorry…I can't love you back"

She took a step back while her tears were falling. Without an explanation, she ran away.

His tears were flooding his eyes when he came back to reality and realized how pathetic he has been, since the day Alyssa rejected his love.

He did everything he could to win her heart, to make her accept him as her boyfriend, but the more he tried getting close to her, the more she hid herself away.

"I know you have dreams to live up, and you can do whatever you like to make those dreams come true. I won't give you a hard time as long as no one interferes between our marriage." He uttered under his breath.

"Even if you are impolite, I don't really care!" he loves her too much that he was willing to endure anything for her. "I'm sorry for forcing you to marry me, I just can't afford to lose you."

His heart was yearning for forgiveness and his tears fell endlessly, as he thought about Alyssa.